Tuesday, January 28, 2020

PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY - 1/25/20 Today local artists checked out a new creative outlet. Located at 131 Cornelia Street in Plattsburgh City, Adirondack Art House provides a spot to sell, share and learn. After entering underneath the misleading pickle company sign you will be greeted by an array of artwork for purchase.

When Kristine Minster (above) moved to the North Country she left behind a successful business in the Finger Lakes area. With the Art House she hopes to reestablish Sew Surprised! which offers clothing, fashion acccesories and home decor items. She can be contacted at sewsuprised@gmail.com .

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Extreme
close up photography -- macrophotography -- is difficult. Sometimes you're only dealing with a slender slice that is in focus, 1/16th of
an inch or less. I recently purchased a macro sliding rail that
makes focusing easier with a tripod, moving the camera and lens
instead of the tripod or the subject. Now that I can shoot a number
of photos with a progressive series of an object at different focus
points and combine those images into one sharper image thanks to
focus stacking software. I'm still learning this new technique but
so far I'm doing OK. You can see the difference in the depth of
field with the photos below, unstacked and stacked, of the eye in a peacock feather.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Some
pedestrians had to walk in the street due to unshoveled sidewalks
this morning. Sidewalks offer safer passage for pedestrians over
streets.

The
sidewalks not shoveled were adjacent to city property, Trinity Park
and the parking lot on the corner of Margaret and Court streets.

Under
city regulations it is stated:

295-40
Duty to remove ice and snow.

It
shall be the duty of the owner of a developed or vacant lot that
adjoins a public sidewalk to remove or clear snow and ice from such
public sidewalk within 24 hours after the end of a snow or ice event,
as publicly declared by a designated City official. Except as
provided herein, the entire width of the sidewalk shall be cleared,
edge to edge, creating conditions that allow safe pedestrian travel
and preventing any accumulation of ice and/or snow, or impenetrable
ice/snow that is not treated to prevent slipping.

Usually
the city sends out a notice about the end of a storm but I didn't see
any. Even then most businesses have shoveled their sidewalks bare so
why can't the city do the same?

One
could say today is a holiday and that gives the city an excuse.
Really. Check the photo of the Court Street sidewalk adjacent to
Clinton County property: the whole stretch is completely clear while
directly across the street snow and ice covers the city sidewalk.

Once
again Plattsburgh City leads by example.

ADDENDUM:

More unshoveled sidewalks seen this afternoon: City Hall, Verdantique Park, and Smith-Weed Bridge.

If you're young and healthy no problem trudging through. A senior citizen with limited mobility? Tough.

For a real obstacle course check out Smith-Weed Bridge. A passing city snowplow has clogged the sidewalks but without any shoveling to fix the problem.

Having a heart attack while shoveling snow is bad enough but how about having one while slogging through on a sidewalk piled over two feet deep with the white crap?

Monday, January 06, 2020

That
night in October 2019 Jonathan Mackenzie Parker was delivering pizza
as usual when -- as he explains -- BAM!

He
had the right of way at the intersection of Clinton and Marion
streets. Without warning -- no flashing lights or siren -- a
Plattsburgh Police Department car shot through, ignoring the stop sign, totaling
Jonathan's car.

The
incident was recorded by a dashcam camera in a car parked down the
street. The accompanying video shows the violent impact.

The
police officers were responding to the report of someone on the loose
with a knife. According to Jonathan both officers were taken away by
ambulance. The photos below show the extensive damage to his car.

The
Plattsburgh PD told Jonathan that the police officer was at fault and
that he would be compensated by the department's insurance company.
He says the police report and the investigating officer stated the
police driver who ran into him was at fault.

In
a Press-Republican newspaper article about the crash dated Oct
28, 2019 Police
Chief Levi Ritter was quoted: "They proceeded through an
intersection (with Clinton Street) as carefully as possible, but
collided with another vehicle... There’s no good way to say this;
the officer was at fault.”

So
Jonathan thought he would be reimbursed. Working 60 hours a week at
Pizza Bono meant his car provided a source of income. He says he was
without a car for a week until he was able to purchase another
vehicle to get back to work.

Jonathan:
"I had to drop all my savings on a new [car] and it put me
behind on my rent and other bills."

But
the insurance money would help him out -- or so he thought.

The
insurance company for the Plattsburgh PD refuses to pay out. In a
letter sent to Jonathan the company stated:

"Tokio
Marine HCC - Public Risk Group insures claims on the behalf of US
Specialty Insurance Company (USSIC) and The Tokio HCC Public Risk
Program through which the City of Plattsburgh, NY is insured. We
have received notice of your above-referenced claim seeking recovery
of property damage arising out of a motor vehicle accident that
occurred on or about the above stated date of loss...

"Our
investigation has revealed the underlying the Claim occurred during
the course of a call by our insured police vehicle, and therefore,
the City of Plattsburgh is entitled to governmental immunity in this
matter... Our investigation found no evidence to suggested the
alleged actions of the operator of the police vehicle would meet the
'reckless disregard' standard."

No
siren, no flashing lights, running a stop sign. No reckless
disregard?

Jonathan:
"I'm kinda low on options [to deal with the insurance company
denial.] To be honest this whole thing has been pretty demoralizing.
Like all I did was drive straight down the street and then all of a
sudden my life is turned upside down. It's been all my responsibility
to get all this done. I'm the one making all the calls, filling out
paperwork and doing all the work. And it's just so unfair."

*
* *

Here
are previous articles I've written about Plattsburgh PD cars speeding
along without sirens on.